


Un Monstre À Paris

by sailortwilightt



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Un monstre à Paris | A Monster in Paris (2011)
Genre: 1900s Paris, Almost furry kink but not, Alternate Universe - 1900s, Cabaret singer meets monster, F/M, misunderstood monster
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 10:09:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11415678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailortwilightt/pseuds/sailortwilightt
Summary: Théo and Nino team up with a cabaret singer and an eccentric scientist to save a misunderstood monster from the city's police.





	1. Chapter 1

 

_Paris, France – Janvier 1910_

 

 

_F_ o _llowing months of high rainfall, the river Seine begins to rise more rapidly than normal. Over the course of the last week, thousands of Parisians living nearby the river have already evacuated. To continue moving throughout the city, residents travel by boat or across a series of wooden walkways built by Parisians themselves. The water reached a height of twenty feet above the normal; drains, sewers, tunnels, even subways were filled with water. The Eiffel Tower has wet feet and it’s only on the Montmortre hill that people could stay a little dry._

 

 

_▪▪▪▪_

 

 

_Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Chat Noir © Thomas Astruc_  
_Un_ _Monstre À Paris film au_

 


	2. Chapter 2

_The sun was shining, it was a beautiful day, with white fluffy clouds scattered along the sky._

_“Nino!” There she was, as gorgeous as ever, her round-rimmed glasses framing her face, her wild hair tamed into an elegant bun over her head. She wore a burgundy dress that suited her tan skinned beautifully, a picnic basket within her slim fingers. “Over here!” She smiled and waved her hand in the air._

_“Coming!” Nino picked up his pace, reaching Alya with a smile. He took off his black derby hat, holding it in front of himself politely. He was wearing navy green slacks with a matching vest, a white button up tucked neatly into his trousers. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” He said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck._

_“It’s alright, c’mon.” She motioned her head towards the park gates. Other couples came into view as they entered the park, scattered around the pasture and enjoying their own picnics in the Parisian sun. Nino still couldn’t believe that they were on this date._

_“Oh Nino,” Alya sighed, heading towards one of the fountains. “I’m so glad we are finally out on a date.” She spun lightly, her dress floating up as she spun._

_“Here, let me take your basket.” Nino offered his hand._

_“Thank you.” She smiled softly and handed him the basket, resting her arms on the stone wall that surrounded the fountain and small river that flowed through the park._

_“I’m sorry I took so long to ask you out.” Nino went to a patch of grass nearby, right under the cooling shade of a tree. He set the basket down and opened it, pulling out the red and white checkered blanket, spreading it over the grass._

_“It’s okay, the past is the past.” She turned and took steps to join him. “As long as we’re here now, it’s no problem, right?” Nino smiled and started to bring out the nicely cut square sandwiches and packed strawberries, when he started to hear scattered screams. He looked around._

_Green, scaly, and sharp fangs… Fang?_

_Alya fell back as the crocodile roared. “What on earth is a crocodile doing in Paris?” Nino questioned as Fang roared once more, smoke coming out of his snout. “Oh, he’s a dragon.”_

_“I think what you should be asking is, what on Earth is a dragon doing on Earth!” Alya shouted as she shuffled back._

_“It’s okay, don’t worry Alya, I’ll save you!” He grabbed the umbrella that Alya was seemingly carrying around the whole time and turned to Fang. “Alright Fang, it’s just you and me!” Nino got in an offensive stance._

_Umbrellas can take down dragons, right?_

_Fang inhaled deeply and blew out flames. Nino scrambled to open the umbrella and the flames started to consume the fabric._

_Wrong._

The sound of the projector whirring made Nino startle awake from his daydream. The belt of the projector had snapped, the film got jammed and the image on the screen burnt out.

Nino heard the crowd in the theatre groaning and booing and he quickly searched through his drawers for another belt, when he realized that that was the last belt he had for his projector. However, a lightbulb moment struck and Nino hastily removed his belt and attached it to the wheels. Plucking out the clogged film, he cut three frames and started to turn the wheel, the film picking up once more.

There were scattered claps and cheers as the image was restored and it showed the last scenes of the film ‘Spring Romance’, where the main protagonist and the romantic interest were kissing, a slain dragon right behind them.

Nino Lahiffe, filmer and projectionist at the local cinema. The film finished and he headed down starts to the lobby, when there he saw her. The beautifully tanned angel that worked the box office. Alya Césaire.

Alya was humming a soft tune as she watered her orchids, until there was a loud pop and smoke covered the street and front lobby. She coughed and waved the smoke away, a tall figure coming into sight.

“Théo, is that you?” Théo Barbot, small time deliverer and inventor.

“Good afternoon, you little caramel drop, I’ve got a delivery.” He handed a reel to Alya and she gasped lightly as she looked at the case title.

“Oh, it’s the new Jade Turtle film! You know, Jade Turtle is Nino’s favorite character.” Alya held the reel close to her chest.

“Oh, don’t I know that.” He chuckled, chewing on a lollipop stick. “By the way, where is Nino anyways?” They both turned towards the stairs, a smile forming on Théo’s expression as he spotted Nino at the stop of the staircase. “There’s my boy! Hey Nino, catch!” Nino, who was still belt-less and holding his pants up, stammered to tell Théo to wait as the male tossed the reel like a fucking frisbee. In the end, Nino did catch it, but at what cost? His dignity.

"Oh my!" Alya chuckled.

“Oop, alright, alright little lady, look away, look away.” Théo put a hand up to cover Alya’s eyes. “Indecent man.”

“Alright, alright, I’m not looking, I’m not looking.” She giggled, turning away. Nino quickly pulled his pants up and started down the stairs, his cheeks heated and the reel tucked under is arm.

“Heya Nino, got any plans?” Théo asked, looking down at his flushed friend.

“Well, I’ve got to go to Vincent’s, I need to buy a new belt for my projector.” Nino sighed, adjusting his pants.

“Since when do you put pants on your projector?” Théo snickered and Alya snorted. “Well, how about I give you a ride?”

“Oh no, you take on too many detours.” Nino rose his hand in thanks and Théo groaned. “I have to be here in time for the premier.”

“Aw, c’mon! With my little ‘Miraculous Ladybug’, I can get you back in no time.” There was a small clang and three turned to see Théo’s truck rolling away. “Oh no, Ladybug!” Théo ran after his truck, leaving Nino and Alya alone.

Nino cleared his throat lightly, catching Alya’s attention. “Hey Alya, I was wondering.”

“Yes?” She asked, tucking some hair behind her ear.

“Well, I was wondering, are you… Uh, will I be seeing you later?”

“For the premier?” She asked. He nodded. “Of course, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

“Yes, it’s going to be very exciting.” He chuckled nervously. They stood there for a couple awkward seconds, Nino bringing the reel under his chin, ready to hide. “Also Alya, I was wondering,” he fidgeted in his spot. “You see, well, I was wondering if you, if you can, would you be able to…” Her eyes shimmered in the sunlight and he could have melted right then and there.

“Sure, I’d love to.” She replied. Nino blinked and stammered.

“O-Oh, really?” She smiled.

“Sure, I wouldn’t mind taking your reel back to your room.” She offered to take the reel off of his hands. His jaw dropped slightly.

“O-Oh. Oh! R-Right, yes.” He cleared his throat lightly and he handed her the reel. “Thank you, Alya.” Their fingers brushed as she took the wheel and he nearly lost his grip on it.

“Anything else, Nino?” She asked, expectantly.

“Oh, well, now that you mention it, there is one thing.”

She brightened. “Yes?”

“Well-“

“Nino!” Théo called from across the street. “C’mon, I’ve got various deliveries to make and I’m on a time crunch! You can woo Miss Caramel Drop at a later time!” Nino’s face heated up and he ran his hand down his face as he muttered his goodbye to Alya.

Nino quickly made his way to Théo’s truck, climbing in and watching as Alya waved them goodbye with a smile on her face as they drove off.

“Thanks a lot, Théo.”

“You’re quite welcome, my friend.” He remained silent for a moment, casting a glance over at Nino. “Why are you thanking me?”

“I was talking to Alya and you interrupted me and ruined everything!” Nino crossed his arms and pouted. Théo gasped, taking a longer look at Nino.

“Oh! You have the hots for Alya! Have you asked her out yet?”

“No.” Nino mumbled.

“And why not?” He asked, incredulous.

“Well, I was going to but you interrupted me-“ Théo groaned.

“Why haven’t you asked her out before?”

Nino patted at his arm with his finger. “Well, you see, whenever I’m with her, I get so distracted, I get so tongue tied, because,” he sighed dreamily. “She’s as beautiful as an Egyptian goddess.”

Théo chuckled mockingly. “My little Nino is in love.” He reached to tug on Nino’s cheek and the truck swerved slightly, making Nino screech and try to straighten the wheel. With all the commotion of the swerving and trying to straighten the truck, Nino’s face rubbed into Théo’s jacket.

“Jeez, your jacket is really itchy,” he mumbled, rubbing at his cheek while Théo returned his hands to the wheel. “What is that, straw?” He asked, touching Théo’s sleeve.

“Straw?” He repeated, scoffing in an offended manner. “I’ll have you know that I paid _a lot_ of money for this to be _straw_.” He huffed, tugging his sleeve from Nino's hold roughly.

“Sorry.” Nino mumbled.

“Anyways, why haven’t you asked Alya out before?” Théo asked again. Nino stammered to reply.

“It’s not as easy as you think!”

Théo rolled his eyes. “Nino, it really is as easy as I think.” Nino narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms again.

“Oh yeah? Well, what would you do?” Théo gave him a smug look. “The _decent_ way.” Nino continued, which made Théo chuckle.

“Write her a letter. Tell her how you feel and arrange a date. All you got to do is add a little love to it and you’ll be golden.”

“Do you know anything about love?” Nino blurted. He wasn’t supposed to ask out loud, but of all the years he’s known Théo, he’s seen him flirt and trying to impress girls, but he’s never seen him in an actual relationship – he was curious.

“Don’t you know what they say about me, Nino?”

“What’s that?”

“’When Théo is on the prowl, the kitty cats meow’.” Nino thought on Théo’s words, humming thoughtfully.

“I’ve _never_ heard that before,” Théo gave a scoff. “But I will admit, it did rhyme.” Nino nodded.

“I’ll tell you what Nino, it did more than just rhyme – it’s the truth!” Théo stopped in a town square, right in front of a flower shop, right across from Vincent’s photography shop.

“I’ll be right back!” Nino called, crossing the street.

“Don’t take too long, buddy! I’ve got other…” Théo’s voice trailed off as he spotted a piece of eye candy. Mireille Caquet, local florist. “You know what, take your time, no rush!”


	3. Chapter 3

“Here you are, sir.” Silence. “Sir?”

Nino blinked, turning to Vincent.

Vincent was a very good friend of Nino’s – He always provided Nino with film and any other camera necessities. And Vincent considered Nino a friend as well – Nino was a returning patron to his shop, Nino himself keeping Vincent in business.

“Find something you like then?”

Nino chewed on his lip. Should he?

“That camera just came in yesterday. Brand new, one of the first of its kind and it’s got a better quality than before.” Vincent sang.

Pulled into the sale like a sailor to a siren’s song, Nino caved. “I’ll take it, please.”

After another monetary exchange, Nino was walking out of Vincent’s shop with a belt tucked into his jacket and his new camera propped onto his shoulder.

“Pleasure doing business with you Nino!” Vincent called out.

“Thanks Vincent!” Nino called back happily.

The camera was a rectangular box, a sweet mahogany color with a golden trim and silver bolts and crank. Nino looked into the eye piece, the image he received was perfectly clear, black and white.

Oh, he was buzzing with excitement. He pointed the camera towards Théo and Mireille. The picture was perfect. He turned his camera to look down the sidewalk.

Motorized vehicles. Some wagons were pulled by horse, people walking along the sidewalks happily. There was a peculiar man, slightly of Asian descent and a blond pompadour against his stark black hair, started running towards him.

Before Nino could realize, this man was running away with his new camera.

“H-Hey, wait!” Nino stumbled forward as the camera was snatched away from his hand. “Thief! Thief!”

Meanwhile, Théo was showing Mireille his Lady.

“What’s this?” Mireille asked, looking over Théo’s shoulder.

“Oh, this?” Théo motioned to the box in his hands, with handles, switches, even a joystick of sorts. Not mention the antenna at the top. “This, my dear, is our future. Technology will one day reign over us before we know it and one day, I’ll be ‘Théo Barbot, engineer’.” Motioned his hand out, imaging his own title. 

Mireille giggled. “Well, _Mister Engineer_ , what’s this gadget you’ve got there?” Mireille looked up at him expectantly.

“Well, this is like a control. A remote control, if you will.” He showed her the box. “I can do all sorts of things with this, watch.” Théo pressed on one of the switches, expecting the lift of his truck to rise from the ground.

The box in Théo’s hand buzzed quietly and the lift started whirring, rising only slightly before falling back to the ground.

“It wasn’t supposed to do that.” He chuckled embarrassedly. “I’ll have a brand named after me, you know.” He tried to flip the switch again, several times actually, and the Ladybug didn’t budge.

“Théo?” She asked, looking up at him expectantly.

“Yeah, I’m– It’s–”

With a pop, the lift shot up, the three sacks of plant fertilizer shot up into the sky.

“Oh dear.” Théo sighed, tugging Mireille closer to him by the waist. “There’s one… two…” He counted the sacks as they fell on either side of them. He looked around for the last sack, when he started to hear Nino’s calls.

Mireille gasped. “Oh no, a thief.” She put a hand to Théo’s chest. “Théo, help, stop him.”

“Not a worry, my dear, I’ll stop him.” Théo didn’t move and the thief was coming up on the other side of Ladybug.

“Théo?” Mireille was curious as to why he hadn’t moved at all.

“Three, two, one…”

The last sack of fertilizer fell in front of the thief. He couldn’t stop himself and tripped on it, stumbling forward. Théo pressed a switch on his control box and the doors of the Ladybug opened, making the thief hit the door, face first.

The camera flew into the air as the thief hit and Nino caught it was a chuckle. “My camera!”

“Wow Théo, you actually saved Nino’s camera.” Mireille chuckled.

Théo gave an affirmative hum, blowing some non-existent dust off of his control box. “What can I say, I’m a miraculous person.”

Nino snorted and joined Théo. Mireille was giggling, fawning over how Théo pretended to be grand.

“‘I’m a miraculous person’?”

Théo glanced over at Nino while they were driving to their final destination. “Yes, thank you.”

“What number was that?”

Théo hummed. “That was number three in the book–” He shook his head. “Wait, all my lines are genuine and they are not tucked in between the seats in a tiny book!”

Nino laughed. “Genuine. Right.”

Théo was a genuine person, he was eccentric and a flirt, but overall, a great guy. Nino’s teases were never to be taken seriously and Théo knew it was mostly payback and that Nino didn’t mean it.

“So, where are we off to next?” Nino asked, making sure his new camera was comfortable.

“I’ve got to deliver something to Professor Mendeleiev. She’s really cool, always coming up with all sorts of experiments.”

The drive out to Professor Mendeleiev’s lab was a sketchy one. It was a road of wooden planks, since it was out to the flooded parts of Paris.

Had it been Nino driving, there would be no way in hell that he would have made that delivery. However, since it was Théo behind the wheel, he was used to it.

So across the sketchy, life-threatening wooden planks did the Ladybug cross, to a singular tall building. The walls were mostly windows, tinted, so you couldn’t see inside.

Théo parked the truck right in front of the building, before hopping off and heading to the back. “Professor Meneleiev is a treat, she’s a bit loony, yet an entertaining woman.”

Nino climbed out of the truck, slightly woozy. “Do you come here often?” He questioned, trying to breathe through his nausea.

“Oh yeah. I just never get to go inside. I’m always delivering peat here. I wonder what she uses it for.” He unloaded several sacks of said peat onto a cart and pushed it to the doors. “Hey, maybe you can meet the professor!”

Théo knocked on the door, calling out to the professor. “Well, that’s odd. The professor usually answers the door right away.”

“Maybe they’re shy?”

Théo scoffed. “The professor? Shy?” He shook his head and knocked a couple more times.

After no response, Théo tapped his foot thoughtfully. “Maybe she’s not here?”

The two of them heard a shuffling on the other side of the door and then a card slipped out from under the door.

“Maybe she’s really shy.”

Théo hummed, picking up the card. “‘Prof. Mendeleiev is out of the country. I am in New York for a convention, please leave the delivery outside and Nathaniel will take care of it’.”

“Nathaniel? Who’s Nathaniel?” Nino asked, looking at the card in Théo’s hands.

“Oh Nathaniel!” He sang, knocking on the door.

The door unlocked and the hinges squeaked as it slowly opened. Out of the shadows, a figure started to come out. A boy, short with bright red hair.

“Oh, you’re Nathaniel.” Nino nodded.

The boy fished out a card from his pockets, handing it to Nino.

“I am Nathaniel, Professor Medeleiev’s botanical assistant. Nice to meet you.” Nino smiled. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“He’s a mute.” Théo supplied. “As far as I know. Never heard him say a peep, that guy.” Théo pushed the door open, wheeling the cart inside.

In a flash, Nathaniel was in front of Théo, holding a new flashcard. “Théo, just leave the boxes here and please leave.”

“Damn it!” Théo coughed. “‘I’ll see you when I get back to Paris’.” He finished.

Nino peeked into the laboratory and gasped. “Wow, look at this place, its so cool.”

Théo wheeled the care to the side and set the sacks down. “We should have the right to explore, for _peat’s_ sake!” He hit one of the sacks with his hand, laughing. “Get it, it’s – It’s peat, ‘Pete’s sake’, do you – oh, nevermind.” Nathaniel’s neutral face made Théo wave him away, before venturing forward.

“It’s like another world in here!” Théo exclaimed. “C’mon Nino, let’s explore the Botanical Gardens!”

“Uh, Nathaniel says that we should leave now. We don’t have the permission to–”

“Come on, Nino! You’ve got your camera, right? You could film this! Make it into a new movie!” Théo put his hand to his waist. “‘The Adventures of Théo the Great!’”

Nino’s hesitation to respond signaled Théo that he almost snagged him.

“In this adventure, Théo explores the lush forest of Mendeleiev, hoping to find new life!”

Nino chewed on his lip before he caved. “Alright, alright, I’ll go get my camera!”

After a couple minutes, Nino cranked his camera and looked through the eye piece, his camera looking up at the surroundings and then back at Théo.

“Here we are, Botanical Gardens, forest of Mendeleiev, where I, Théo Barbot, will find a new species of life!” Théo walked down a little bridge that led them further into the building. “Oh, what is this! Look at this huge tree I’ve discovered! I’ve decided to call it, uh... ‘Giant Théopolis’!” Théo threw his hands up in the air.

Nino chuckled lightly, until a card started to wave in front of his camera. Nino looked up, the image focusing on the card. “Actually, that’s a sequoia tree.” Nino clarified.

Théo rolled his eyes and his shoulders slumped. “Whatever, I prefer the name ‘Giant Théopolis’.” Théo muttered, waving his hand and continued down a small wooden path.

Nino followed along, until Théo gasped loudly. “Nino, look! Oh my god, look, it’s the professor’s lab!”

Nathaniel started to flail his arms, following after Théo to stop him.

“Wow, look at all these different tubes and colored liquids!” Théo squealed, picking up one of the professor’s lab coats. “Nino, Nino, record me, record me!”

Nathaniel pointed to a poster board that read “Warning!” and demonstrated Théo, test tubes and an explosion.

Nino came closer, standing on the other side of the table, recoding Théo as he picked up a flask of green liquid.

“And for today’s experiment, Doctor Théo has…” He picked up the little tag tied around the neck of the flask. “ _Super Fertilizer_.”

“Théo, I don’t think you should go touching those–” 

“Oh, look sunflower seeds! Ladybug runs on sunflower oil, can you imagine the results will be!” Théo picked a sunflower out of a small jar of seeds and set it down on a small plate. Adding a drop or two of the super fertilizer, Théo bent down to be eye level with the seed.

“Nothing’s happening.” He mumbled.

“Maybe you should add some water to it.” Nino suggested.

Théo hummed, looking at the tag. “‘ _Unstable_ ’. Big red letters. Meh.” Théo plucked the seed off of the plate and tossed it away, the seed landing in a small pond. “Next!” Théo picked up a little spray bottle, this time colored pink. “‘ _Automize-a-tune_ ’. Sounds interesting.”

Nathaniel came closer and took a deep breath, ready to show his Angry Face, when Théo took advantage and gave the boy a couple spritz.

Nathaniel coughed a couple times and soon, his coughs started to turn into a lovely opera singing voice.

Théo gasped and clapped amusedly.

Nathaniel glared and started to pull all the nearby potions on the table. He started to put away all the potion bottles, when the floor started to shake lightly.

“Do you feel that?” Théo asked, looking around.

Nino felt something cross his ankles and he jumped, looking down. A black cat, glowing emerald green eyes, meowing up at him. “Oh, hello. How did you get in here?”

“Woah, woah, Nino, look at this!”

Nino looked to Théo and there was a _huge_ sunflower growing from the little pond Théo tossed the seed in.

“Wow! Would you look at that! Can you imagine how much oil I’ll have for Ladybug!” Théo chuckled, patting the stem.

The sunflower bloomed, bumping into the light lamps and nearly breaking through the roof. When Théo patted the stem and the flower groaned, starting to tilt towards him.

“Oh… Oh no, Nino, Ni- _No_ , help!” Grabbing the nearest object Théo could find, Théo tried to use a rake to push the stem back.

Nino tried to make his way over quickly, but that cat was in the way and he nearly tripped on it, twice. Nino eventually was able to join Théo’s side and attempt to push the abnormally large stem that rivalled the sequoia tree.

Théo continued to push with the rake, until it snapped and one of the halves was flung into the air. The broken half of the rake flipped towards the shelves of potions that Nathaniel just fixed, knocking over two of the most recently used bottles.

Nathaniel tried to catch the two bottles, but he jumped too soon and missed.

The two bottles crashed together and there was a big boom that echoed throughout the whole lab, enshrouding them all in green smoke.


End file.
